COURSES TAUGHT BY YALE MAGRASS
Soc 200 Introduction to Social Thought
A look at the ideas of the founders of modern social thought, particularly Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Smith, DeMaistre, Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim and Weber. They were all writing as capitalism, science and technology emerged so we must consider the changes those brought about. We reflect upon questions like 1) does the individual create society or does society create the individual? 2) what is the ideal society? 3) is history a series or random events or does it follow laws? 4) what is freedom? is it something we really want? 5) do we want government and society to leave us along or protect us and provide for us?
Soc 305 Political Sociology
Who controls America's institutions? From where do they receive their power? What are the powers and rights of ordinary citizens? How are political democracy and economic capitalism related? How are decisions about war and peace, welfare, social and economic policy made? How is wealth and power distributed in other countries? We continually illustrate with contemporary and historical such as the emergence of a global economy, what the media calls “terrorism,” environmental and energy policy, New Deal, Vietnam, Middle Eastern conflicts, the on terrorism, the transformation of the Ex-Soviet Union, The European Union
Soc 310 Social Movements
Is society something inherent unchangeable in which the best you can hope for is individual success, as powerful institutions define success. Individuals may have little power to change the conditions under which they live if the act on their own, but they may have a better chance if they work with others. This course studies Social Movements, efforts by people acting collectively to transform society. People with different values may have polar opposite visions of what a better world would look like. Recent examples may include the Occupies and the Tea Party, but we will also study the anti-imperialism and anti-racism movements of the 1960/1970s, the labor movement, populism, the Christian Right, support for racism and Nazism. The course may help us to decide if we can follow Gandhi ‘s advice and “become the change we want to be.”
Soc 381 Social Impact of Science & Technology
We will study issues like the ethics of science, the attempts to build machines with human consciousness, the differences between humans and animals, the conflict between science and religion particularly evolution and creationism, the debate about how much genetics determines intelligence and personality, whether or not Extra-Terrestrials are likely to build civilizations like ours, the attempts to measure human behavior, and the morality of weapons research, both in the United States and Nazi Germany. This courses looks at science and technology as ideologies: the claim that tools are value free, that knowledge should be property, that natural and social reality should be quantified.
Soc/Ant 420 Senior Seminar: Millennial Generation vs. Baby Boomers
A comparison between the present generation of college students and the one that came of age during the War in Vietnam; how each generation was molded by the technology, state of the economy, political conditions, school system and family relations of the time they grew up; each generation's values and culture, their beliefs about politics and government, war and peace, economic institutions, purpose of education, prospects for the future, family and sexual relations, how much power they believe have to affect their future, both individually and collectively, whether they see continuity between themselves and their parents or perceive a generation gap, levels of activism, the issues they focus on and consider important.
Soc/Ant 310:
Michael KazinThe Populist Persuasion
Terry H. AndersonThe Movement and The Sixties
Janet Byrne The Occupy Handbook
Yale Magrass & Charles Derber Morality Wars
Soc305:
Ira Katznelson, Mark Kesselman, Alan Draper Politics ofPower Noam ChomskyHegemony or Survival
Charles Derber/Yale MagrassThe Surplus AmericanCharles Derber/Yale MagrassMorality WarsHoward Zinn The Twentieth Century
Soc 381:
James Trefil Are We Unique?
Kenneth MillerOnly A Theory
Richard Lowentin & Richard LevinBiology Under the Influence
John CornwellHitler’s Scientists